By Daniel Stefanski |
A political battle is underway over a bill that could help more Arizonans afford and own homes.
Earlier this week, a bipartisan coalition of Arizona lawmakers clashed with the Arizona League of Cities and Towns over the fate of the Arizona Starter Homes Act, which currently resides in the Governor’s Office.
Both chambers of the legislature cleared the bill with bipartisan votes. The proposal would “create municipal prohibitions relating to home designs and single-family home lot sizes” – according to the overview provided by the chamber.
In a press release from the Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus, Republican and Democrat lawmakers highlighted a statement from the Executive Director of the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, where he said, “Zoning is something that we cannot support. And we told them from the beginning.”
Director Belshe responded to the charge on “X,” writing, “I would like to address a quote attributed to me in the local media yesterday. My wording may have been a bit clunky with the reporter which led to some confusion. Generally, the League and our cities view by-right zoning from a state mandate as nonnegotiable as it tends to be anti-democratic and fails to consider the nuances of development and will lead to considerable unintended consequences.”
Belshe added, “That said, we are actively working on bills that will streamline and allow ADU’s, middle housing options, and adaptive reuse of commercial buildings. We’re additionally working on legislation that would make rezoning processes more efficient. With regards to HB 2570 the League was never given an opportunity to negotiate on the bill. Amendments were crafted by the homebuilders to secure votes of individual legislators.”
Senate President Warren Petersen took issue with the League’s ardent opposition to this bipartisan solution, saying, “The Governor is out of excuses to not sign this bill. The League just made their intentions clear. The Governor needs to do the right thing here to make housing more affordable and stand up to the League lobbyists whose only objective is to ensure nothing gets done at the legislature.”
Democrat Senator Theresa Hatathlie also weighed in to support the bill. She said, “Your home is your sacred place. It’s where you raise your family and care for your elders. I’m tired of the League and their lobbyists who come here, year after year, to deny these opportunities for the people that I represent. Enough is enough. Please sign the Arizona Starter Homes Act, Governor.”
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego urged the governor to veto the bill, stating. “We need more affordable housing in Arizona, but HB 2570 misses the mark. It doesn’t guarantee that starter homes would be affordable – and instead, increases profits for homebuilders and overlooks critical infrastructure and water needs. It’s curious the prime sponsors of the bill excluded their own communities from the new rules, choosing to disproportionately impact cities like Phoenix that have planned for growth and high-density development. I urge Governor Hobbs to veto this bill.”
House and Senate legislators had recently held a press conference outside of the state capitol building to champion their efforts and to lobby the governor to sign their legislation.
After the presser, Senator Wendy Rogers posted, “Property rights are a fundamental freedom in our constitutional republic. It is up to us legislators to enable that right in every way possible… especially in our rural areas where the American dream of homeownership is becoming less attainable for hard-working Arizonans. This bill is a step in the right direction to help bring prices down!”
HB 2570 was transmitted to Governor Katie Hobbs on March 12.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
